Manual:Professional Development:Reporting

Unit Reporting
MSG and MEU Unit reports are due into the Battalion OIC if one exists, otherwise, the Brigade OIC, the first of every even numbered month. If received after the first but before the Battalion Reporting deadline, it will be recorded as late. The Battalion OIC is required to make an attempt to acquire the report before recording it as a failure to report (FTR) and must keep proof of this attempt. If the Battalion OIC does not receive the report before his own reporting deadline, the Unit will be recorded as "Failure to Report". Your report should contain the following information:


 * Unit number and Nickname
 * Unit Motto
 * Unit Branch of Service
 * OIC full name, and email address (regular mail address if no internet service) and phone number.
 * DOIC full name, and email address (regular mail address if no internet service) and phone number.

The next section of your report is very important. It is the PERSONNEL DATA section. From the Unit roster, we determine how many Marines we actually have, both active and reserve. The roster is extremely important and MUST contain the following information on every Marine in the Unit:
 * Full name
 * Rank
 * SCC number
 * Active or Reserve status
 * Expiration date of membership in STARFLEET.

All Marines MUST be members in good standing with STARFLEET. We are STARFLEET members first, Marines second. If a membership is expired, the name and information belong in either the "discharge" list, if the member does not plan on renewing, or in a "standby" list if the membership is pending.

As the Unit OIC, it is your responsibility to check your roster for accuracy. This can be done through the STARFLEET database. Keep a master copy of your roster with all the information and, before each report, check expiring members to be sure they have renewed. It is also a good idea to remind members to renew a few weeks to two months before they expire. Make sure all your Marines are affiliated with the Corps by checking Active or Reserve Status in the database.

Remember that the SFMC does not promote. Promotions can only be done by the Ship's CO for ranks up to Commander/Lieutenant Colonel or by STARFLEET for ranks Captain/Colonel and above. However, anyone can send a promotion request to the appropriate authority for anyone. 

Following the roster section should be a list of new recruits. If you have included the full information on each of these recruits in the roster section, you only need to list the names under Recruits. Discharges also need to be listed separately.

AWARDS ISSUED means listing the full name for the record of any Marine in the Unit who has received an award since the previous reporting period. Please list the award name and all recipients for the period. You will be the awarding authority for the Unit leadership award and any Unit awards that your Unit determines they should have. Keep in mind, Unit awards are a good incentive to get Marines to participate, but any device representing these awards are not authorized for wear on a proper dress uniform unless recognized by the SFMC and included in the awards section of the MFM. The Marine Force Manual (MFM) lists only the Leadership Award as the responsibility of a Unit OIC.

AWARDS REQUESTED is a section in which you can request awards for Marines in your Unit or elsewhere in the Corps. Any Marine may submit any other marine for an award at any time. There is an online award form that you may use or you may include all the information in this section of your report. You should be able to determine from your rosters when your Marines are due a Good Conduct Award. This is issued by COFORCECOM for 3 years of service by a Marine. This is uninterrupted service to the Corps, which is a good reason to insure that memberships do not lapse. If a membership lapses then the time count starts over again. Proper rosters can make tracking this award easy and you can submit the information to FORCES COMMAND when the time comes. 

Other awards are listed in the MFM with the criteria for receiving them and who the awarding authority will be. Send any requests for awards through the online awards form and list them in this section of your report. Remember, when submitting a Marine for an award, to detail completely what the person did to deserve the award. You may submit yourself for awards also if you feel that you deserve one, however the Corps frowns upon any Marine holding any position in the chain of command awarding himself an award.

The next section of the report is the MISSION DATA. This is a list or detailed description of activities since the last report. What did your Unit do as a Unit? As individuals? What community service project are you involved in? What conventions, musters, meetings etc. did the Unit members attend or otherwise participate in? This is another opportunity to get recognition for your troops. Let us know what is happening.

It is no longer necessary for Units to report their plans for the next reporting period or the list of courses that the members have taken. The courses are tracked by TRACOM and not by FORCECOM. Although you do not need to include this information in your report, you may wish to retain it in the individual records kept for your Unit. Some Battalion and Brigade OICs prefer the inclusion of Academy information, however, as it aids in their award considerations. CHECK WITH THE OICS IN YOUR CHAIN OF COMMAND FOR THIS DETAIL. 

The final section of the report is one of the most important though rarely used: PROBLEMS, COMMENTS, and SUGGESTIONS. We can't fix it if we don't know it is broken. Please be sure to pass along items that fall in this category whether they are from yourself or a Marine in your Unit. If you had a problem in the Unit and have solved it, explain the problem and the solution. Someone else in the Corps could have the same problem and not know what to do. Individual Marines sometimes have very good suggestions on how we can streamline and advance. Make sure to send this information up the chain and always give credit where it is due.

Lastly sign your report and send it in ON TIME. That is the first day of every even numbered month. If for some reason you know that your report is going to be late or you are going to have difficulty sending it in, you should contact the person to which you normally send the report to and let them know. It helps to have a deputy OIC who can file a report in an emergency. Furthermore, the reporting officer does not necessarily have to be the OIC but the OIC should approve the report. Be sure that this person is kept in the loop and knows who to send the report to and what needs to be.

Reporting is the only job the Unit OIC is required to do in relation to the SFMC and then only every other month. If you're not willing to make that effort on behalf of the Marines in your Unit, you will be doing them a disservice by accepting this position. By failing to report, you fail to support these Marines properly. Unit reports that are filed after the first but before the seventh will be counted as Late. If they are not received before the Battalion reports are due to the Brigade on the 7th, the Unit will be reported as FTR to the Brigade OIC. Reports not properly filled out will be returned for completion. Two (2) late reports will be counted as one (1) Failure to Report. After three (3) Failure to Reports in a 12 month period, the Ship CO will be contacted with a request to replace the Unit OIC. If the Ship's CO chooses not to replace the Unit OIC and there occurs one more FTR in the next three months, the Unit risks being deactivated and losing their number. 

Battalion Reporting
Battalion reports are due into the Brigade OIC the seventh (7th) day of every even numbered month. If received after the seventh (7th) but before the Brigade Reporting deadline (21st), it will be recorded as late. The Brigade OIC is required to make an attempt to acquire the report before recording it as a failure to report (FTR) and must keep proof of this attempt. If the Brigade OIC does not receive the report before his own reporting deadline the Unit will be recorded as "Failure to Report". Your report to the Brigade OIC should include the following information.
 * Battalion Number
 * Brigade Number
 * Month report is being filed
 * Battalion Nickname and Motto
 * Information for the OIC and DOIC including complete name, rank, and contact information

A list of the following information for all units in the Battalion should also be included. 
 * Unit number and Nickname
 * Unit Motto - type of unit MSG/MEU Unit Branch of Service STARFLEET chapter
 * OIC full name, and email address (regular mail address if no internet service) and phone number
 * DOIC full name, and email address (regular mail address if no internet service) and phone number.

Battalion Strength - This section should list the number of Active Marines in the Battalion and the number of Reserve Marines in the Battalion. Remember that a arine must be a member of STARFLEET The International STAR TREK Fan Association. We do not have associate marines. If a chapter or a unit allows for associate members (non STARFLEET dues paying members) that is their right, but we do not recognize them as SFMC members. They do not count in the totals of Active/Reserve marines in your Battalion.

The next section of your report is very important. It is the PERSONNEL DATA section. From the roster we determine how many marines we actually have, the number of active and reserve. The roster is extremely important and MUST contain the following information on every Marine in the Battalion
 * Full name
 * Rank
 * SCC number
 * Active or Reserve status
 * Expiration date of membership in STARFLEET

All Marines MUST be members in good standing with STARFLEET. We are STARFLEET members first, Marines second. If a membership is expired the name and information belongs in either the "discharge" list, if the member does not plan on renewing, or in a "standby" list if the membership is pending. 

As the Battalion OIC, it is your responsibility to check your roster for accuracy. This can be done through the STARFLEET database. Keep a master copy of your roster with all the information and, before each report, check expiring members to be sure they have renewed. If you find a member who is being reported as current but has expired, please contact the Unit OIC and inform them. It is also a good idea to remind OIC's to remind their members to renew a few weeks to two months before they expire. Make sure all your Marines are affiliated with the Corps by checking Active or Reserve Status in the database. As the Battalion OIC, you may not be able to use this tool in the database, but you should be certain that the UNIT OIC's have affirmed the affiliation for each of their members.
 * 1) Recruits - this section will only need names if all the information was listed in the roster section. If these new members were not included in the Battalion roster, please list all their information in this section.
 * 2) Discharges - you should list any "standby" members in this section with a designator. Standby is a new section not previously used in the reports. This section should be a list of members who are planning on renewing or are in the process of renewing their STARFLEET memberships, but have not yet been updated in the SFI database.
 * 3) Changes in Leadership - This section should list any changes made in the unit staff. OIC/DOIC and contact information for any new officers.
 * 4) Awards issued means listing the full name for the record of any marine in the Battalion who has received an award since the previous reporting period. As a Battalion OIC you do not actually decide on awards. It is you job to compile an accurate list of the awards issued by the Unit OIC's in your Battalion and passing this list on to the Brigade OIC. Please be certain that the awards listed are new to this reporting period and not repeats of previous reports.
 * 5) Awards Requested - This would be for awards requested by unit OIC's or by yourself but would be awarded by someone higher up the chain of command, or in another Battalion or Brigade.
 * 6) Awards Denied and reasons thereof - this section should explain any awards that were requested and are within your purview to issue, but that you have chosen to not issue and your reasons for the denial. This is important for those above you in the chain of command so that when a member asks why a certain award was not issued they will know the answer. At times the next link in the chain may overrule you and issue the award. This is not a reflection on you or the job you may be doing, it is simply the right of the higher office to do so.
 * 7) Other awards are listed in the MFM with the criteria for receiving them and who the awarding authority will be. Send any requests for awards through the online awards form and list them in this section of your report. Remember, when submitting a Marine for an award, to detail completely what the person did to deserve the award. You may submit yourself for awards also if you feel that you deserve one, however the Corps frowns upon any Marine holding any position in the chain of command awarding himself an award.

The next section of the report is the MISSION DATA. This is a list or detailed description of activities since the last report. What did your Units do? What community service project where they involved in? What conventions, musters, meetings, etc. did the members attend or otherwise participate in? This is another opportunity to get recognition for your troops. Let us know what is happening. 

It is no longer necessary for Units to report their plans for the next reporting period or the list of courses that the members have taken. The courses are tracked by TRACOM and not by FORCECOM. Although you do not need to include this information in your report, you may wish to retain it in the individual records kept for your Battalion.

The final section of the report is one of the most important though rarely used: PROBLEMS, COMMENTS, and SUGGESTIONS. We can't fix it if we don't know it is broken. Please be sure to pass along items that fall in this category whether they are from yourself or a Marine in one your Units.

If you have a problem in a Unit and have solved it, explain the problem and the solution. Someone else in the Corps could have the same problem and not know what to do. Individual marines sometimes have very good suggestions on how we can streamline and advance. Make sure to send this information up the chain and always give credit where it is due.

'It is important to note that simply copying and pasting the information from Unit/Battalion reports into your Brigade report is UNACCEPTABLE. The requirement is a thoughtful analysis and summarization of that information.' 

Lastly, sign your report and send it in ON TIME. That is the seventh day of every even numbered month. If for some reason you know that your report is going to be late or you are going to have difficulty sending it in, you should contact the person to which you normally send the report and let them know. It helps to have a deputy OIC who can file a report in an emergency. Collecting and compiling a concise and accurate report is the primary job the Battalion OIC. If you're not willing to make the effort on behalf of the Marines in your Battalion, you will be doing them a disservice by accepting this position. By failing to report you fail to support these Marines properly. Battalion reports that are filed after the seventh but before the twenty-first will be counted as late. If they are not received before the Brigade reports are due to FORCECOM on the 21st, the Battalion will be reported as FTR to the Brigade OIC. Reports not properly filled out will be returned for completion. Two late reports will be counted as one (1) Failure to Report. After three (3) Failure to Reports in a 12-month period the Battalion OIC will be placed on probation. Once put on probation the OIC must make sure that the reports for the next 6 (6) months are received on time. An FTR in this probation period or three (3) FTR's in a 12-month period will result in the removal of the OIC. A FTR in this six (6) month probation period or three (3) FTR's in a twelve (12) month period will result in the removal of the OIC (Battalion OIC's are appointed by and removed by the Brigade OIC, Brigade OIC's are appointed and removed by COFORCECOM).

Brigade Reporting
The objective of the OIC of the Brigade is to support the Marines under his/her care and to insure the proper flow of information from above and below, along the Chain of Command. The proper way to do this is to collect, edit, and pass the information from the Unit/Battalion reports on to the office of Forces Command. 

In the above sentence the word "edit" is very important. The job does not consist of merely collecting and forwarding reports. The OIC should compile the information from the reports received into an organized and informative report following the format set up by COFORCECOM. It is important that the reports contain the proper information. If a report is received from a Battalion/unit OIC and it does not include the proper information, it should be returned to the author with the request that it be completed and re-filed. In this case the report should not be counted as late unless it does not arrive by the deadline for the report to be sent to FORCECOM. The following is a breakdown of several important areas of the position.

Awards: The Brigade OIC is responsible for issuing a number of awards to the Marines in his/her care. The awards request form can be found on the SFMC web site, but any marine may submit a request for an award to be issued to any other marine in the Corps either by using the form or sending the necessary information in an e-mail or letter to the Brigade OIC. Requests may also be sent up the chain of command by the regular report forms. It is the duty of the OIC (either Unit, Battalion, or Brigade) to make sure that all marines in their care are informed and issue awards as the need arises.

The Brigade OIC is responsible for submitting nominations for the yearly Corps Honor Awards. These are the winners of the Valor Awards in your Brigade. Please refer to "How to Write a Nomination in the SFMC" in the SFMC library.

If a BDE OIC fails in this portion of his/her responsibility, his/her marines will go unrecognized for that year. This is a MOST important aspect of the position. Do not fail to submit your Honor Award Nominations on time. 

Reporting: There's a lot more to reporting than just collecting and forwarding other peoples' reports. As a matter of fact, this is not the proper procedure for any position within the reporting Chain of Command (CoC). Each position of the reporting CoC above the unit is primarily utilized to assist the next position in dealing with processing the information from the Unit reports.

The COFORCECOM is responsible for reporting the strength of the Corps to the Commandant along with activities, promotions, awards, etc. This information essentially comes from the unit reports. The COFORCECOM has the prerogative to populate the Brigade level positions to help in that job or to collect all the unit reports personally. Assuming the Corps has 150 units it would be a little overwhelming for the COFORCECOM to process all these reports alone. So, they employ Brigade OICs. The proper procedure for the BDE OIC to report this information to COFORCECOM is by compiling all the information from the individual reports into one report. If the BDE OIC simply forwards the individual reports to COFORCECOM then there is no use in having anyone in that position.

This all applies to the Brigade OICs position as well. The BDE OICs are responsible for reporting the strength of their Brigade to the COFORCECOM along with activities, promotions, awards, etc. The information comes from the unit reports within the Brigade. The BDE OICs have the choice of collecting the Unit reports personally or can appoint Battalion OICs to perform this task. The proper procedure for the BN OIC to report this information to the BDE OIC is by compiling all the information from the individual reports into one report. Once again, if the BN OIC simply forwards the individual reports, then there is no use in having anyone in that position. 

The one thing to remember in all this is that the unit's information is what is important. This is what should be reported first and foremost. What the COFORCECOM is looking for in the report from the Brigade is what units are within the Brigade and all their information. At the beginning of the report is the area for listing what Brigade is reporting and their contact information. After that will be the active Battalions and their contact information. After that, all COFORCECOM is concerned with is the units. They already know what Brigade the Unit is in from the report and their Battalion assignment will be stated in the individual Unit's information.

Example: So, if the Brigade has three active Battalions with three Units each, this is how the information will come to the Brigade in the individual reports:
 * The 1BN will send reports for the 1121st, 0480th, and 2680th MSGs
 * The 2BN will send reports for the 1745th, 1875th, and 0469th MSGs
 * The 3BN will send reports for 0912th 1555th 6386th

But this is not how the Brigade OIC should send the information to COFORCECOM

The BDE OIC should send this information on to COFORCECOM like this: 
 * 0469th
 * 0480th
 * 0912th
 * 1121st
 * 1555th
 * 1745th
 * 1875th
 * 2680th
 * 6386th

As you can see this information is not separated into Battalions. It is reporting the individual Unit information only. All sections of the report should be compiled in this manner.

Brigade Reports are due to COFORCECOM no later than the twenty first (21st) of each even numbered month. If received after the twenty first (21st) but before the COFORCECOM deadline (1st of odd months) it will be recorded as late. COFORCECOM must make an attempt to acquire the report before reporting it as failure to report (FTR) and must keep proof of this attempt. If COFORCECOM does not receive the report before his own reporting deadline, the Brigade will be recorded as "Failure to Report"
 * Two (2) late reports will be recorded as one Failure to Report
 * Two (2) FTR's will result in the position OIC being put on probation.
 * Three (3) FTR's in a twelve (12) month period, will result in the following action:

UNITS: Ship's CO will be contacted and a request will be make to replace the OIC or risk the Unit being deactivated. When deactivated the unit number and other information will be open for reassignment.

BATTALION and BRIGADE OIC's who are late reporting twice (2) in a twelve (12) month period will be recorded as having one FTR for each pair of late reports. Two (2) FTR's in a twelve (12) month period will result in the OIC being put on probation. Once put on probation, the OIC must make sure the reports for the next six (6) months are received on time. 

A FTR in this six (6) month probation period or three (3) FTR's in a twelve (12) month period will result in the removal of the OIC (Battalion OIC's are appointed by and removed by the Brigade OIC, Brigade OIC's are appointed and removed by COFORCECOM).

General Staff Reporting
The Corps Command Officer reporting schedule is as follows: to the Communiqué according to publishing schedule, to the Commandant on the 1st of every even numbered month. Additionally, Command Officers will post a monthly report to the SFMC mailing list and social media pages according to the schedule:
 * Week One: Commandant and SGM SFMC
 * Week Two: TRACOM
 * Week Three: FORCECOM
 * Week Four: INFOCOM

Reports should include pending projects status, upcoming projects and ideas for other projects as well as any other information from your offices that the Corps membership needs to know about or should be made aware of for any reason, good or bad. This is to make sure everyone stays visible, and the Corps is seeing something weekly from the General Staff. Failures to report will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, with any action taken as needed.

Special Reporting Requirements Commandant, SFMC - The Commandant will report to the Vice-Commander, STARFLEET not later than the end of the first week of every odd month. Additionally, the Commandant will request to directly address the Executive Committee and Admiralty Board of STARFLEET at least quarterly. 

Comptroller – The Comptroller will send a detailed financial report to the Commandant, Deputy Commandant and the Chief Financial Officer, STARFLEET on the tenth day of every month. This report will be for the previous month and contain account balances and an account of SFMC Quartermaster sales, to include who the merchandise was sold to, the amount of the order, the amount of sales tax collected (and the state it was collected for), the amount of shipping charges collected, the actual amount of shipping needed to send the order (along with receipts showing the amount paid and what order it covers), the method of payment used and the amount of any fees deducted for payment processing (if used to pay for the order).

Other Reports – Command Staff members of the General Staff may be required to submit reports to the SFMC membership when there is important information that needs to be distributed as directed by the Com-mandant or individual Commanding Officers. Command Staff members will follow the same monthly schedule as their commands, shown above.

Additionally, all Command Staff members should be continually updating their Commanding Officers, detail-ing their activities and plans so that information can be collected and collated into the command’s report to Commandant.